紐時賞析／拜登任期倒數 布林肯與盟國試圖解決一系列國際問題

Blinken and U.S. Allies Struggle with Wars as Biden’s Presidency Wanes

拜登將任滿 布林肯與盟邦力挽狂瀾

The array of issues that top diplomats from the United States and allied nations tried to tackle in Rome over two days was dizzying: embattled Ukraine, multiple Middle East conflicts, the Sudan civil war and other hostilities in Africa, instability in Haiti and Venezuela, and tensions arising from military actions by China and North Korea.

美國和盟國高級外交官試圖用2天時間在羅馬處理的一系列問題，讓人目不暇接：處境艱難的烏克蘭，多起中東衝突，蘇丹內戰和非洲的其他敵對行為，海地和委內瑞拉的不穩定，以及中國和北韓軍事行動所引起的緊張局勢。

The officials held discussions over meals and in conference rooms in the towns of Italian Fiuggi and Anagni, south of Rome. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was there to represent the Biden administration at the end of President Joe Biden’s term, as the world waited for the start of the second presidency of Donald Trump and a new era in diplomacy.

在羅馬以南的義大利城鎮費烏吉和阿納尼，官員們在用餐時與會議室內進行討論。美國國務卿布林肯在那裡，在拜登總統任期的尾聲代表拜登政府，而世界等候川普第二總統任期與外交新紀元的開啟。

What became clear over the two days of the Group of 7 diplomatic meeting was the sheer difficulty the allied nations faced in trying to resolve the increasingly intertwined global issues, as well as the chasms that are widening between some of the allies.

在為期2天的七國集團外交會議上，逐漸明朗的局面是，在試圖解決日益交織在一起的全球議題，以及一些盟友之間正在擴大的鴻溝時，盟國面臨著巨大困難。

One source of friction is the wars in the Middle East. President Biden announced a cease-fire deal to stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, raising hope that it could bring a lasting end to the deadliest war in Lebanon in decades.

中東戰爭是分歧來源之一。拜登總統宣布一項停火協議，停止以色列和黎巴嫩武裝組織真主黨之間的戰鬥，這為黎巴嫩數十年來最致命的戰爭持續終止帶來希望。

On the issue of Ukraine and Russia, the diplomats said in the G7 communiqué, “Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence will remain unwavering.”

在烏克蘭與俄羅斯的議題上，外交官們在G7公報中表示，「我們對烏克蘭領土完整、主權和獨立的支持仍堅定不移」。

The communiqué also denounced China’s efforts to help Russia rebuild its defense industry and North Korea’s military aid to Russia.

公報中還譴責中國協助俄羅斯重建國防工業的行為，以及北韓對俄羅斯的軍事援助。

Yet, the officials also know that Mr. Trump has a different view on military aid to Ukraine from Mr. Biden — the U.S. president-elect has threatened to cut off aid, and he could do so to try to force Ukraine to the negotiating table with Russia.

然而，官員們也知道，川普對軍援烏克蘭的看法與拜登不同，這位美國候任總統曾威脅要停止援助，他可能這麼做，試圖迫使烏克蘭與俄羅斯坐上談判桌。

At the news conference, Blinken acknowledged that Ukraine might end up entering into talks with Russia sometime soon, saying, “What we’re determined to do in the remainder of this administration is to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to be able to, as I said, to fight through 2025 if necessary or, if there’s a negotiation, to be able to negotiate from a position of strength.”

布林肯在記者會上承認，烏克蘭可能很快會在某個時候與俄羅斯進入談判，他說，「我們在這屆政府的剩餘時間決心要做的就是，盡可能確保烏克蘭擁有所需的資源，正如我所說，必要時能在2025年戰鬥，或者，若有一場談判，能夠從強勢地位談判」。

文／Edward Wong and Emma Bubola　譯／周辰陽

說文解字看新聞

【張佑生】

美國總統拜登在位期間，國安團隊在對外談判時，經常強調negotiating from a position of strength的必要性，在這裡，strength指的是advantage（優勢），不是真的力量，這個描述常見於討論事務時：Understanding how each country operates in these spaces is key to negotiating from a position of strength.

報導介紹七大工業國(G7)外長11月24日至27日在義大利討論幾乎讓人眼花撩亂(dizzying)的國際局勢。按照衝突的性質，報導用了embattled（處境艱難）、conflict、civil war（內戰）、hostility（敵意）是不可數名詞，付諸行動後變可數，意指「戰鬥」；報導還用了instability（不穩定）、tensions複數時指的是因不信任感而突然爆發的口角或動手。報導用不同單字介紹不同地區不同程度的動盪，值得觀摩。

報導中直白指出，拜登馬上就要下台，國務卿布林肯代為轉達的意見到底有多少分量，與會者心裡有數，new era in diplomacy就要登場。